Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- ConocoPhillips received approval to
resume production at the Penglai 19-3 oilfield off the northeast
coast of China, which was closed in 2011 after an oil leak.

A development plan and environmental assessment report for
the oilfield have been approved, China’s State Oceanic
Administration said in a statement on its website. The regulator
will keep monitoring the area while Houston-based ConocoPhillips
restarts operation, it said.

The administration ordered operations at the Penglai field
to shut down in September 2011 after at least 3,200 barrels of
oil and fluids leaded into Bohai Bay. ConocoPhillips and its
Chinese partner Cnooc Ltd. have cleaned up the spill and agreed
to pay about $160 million in compensation to fishermen.

“Cnooc should urge and assist ConocoPhillips to strictly
comply with the newly approved development plan, the
environmental assessment reports and the oil and gas production
codes,” the administration said in the statement.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s
economic-planning agency, approved the development plan for
Penglai 19-3 in December, the National Energy Administration
said on Jan. 11.

Penglai 19-3, Cnooc’s largest offshore oilfield, produced
62,000 barrels of oil a day before it was shut. The lost
production was equivalent to about 7 percent of the company’s
targeted daily oil and gas production, according to calculations
made by Bloomberg.

Cnooc has received final approval from the U.S. for a $15.1
billion acquisition of Calgary-based Nexen Inc., the biggest
overseas takeover by a Chinese company, Nexen said on Feb. 12.